On Feb. 4, 1912, Franz Reichelt, a tailor and inventor, leaped from the Eiffel Tower and fell to his death wearing a parachute made from cloth, his own invention. Friends had begged him to use a dummy for the feat, but Reichelt declined, saying, “I intend to prove the worth of my invention.” Reichelt is known, briefly, as the “Flying Tailor.”

LaFee is a health science writer at UC San Diego.